Caroline and the Public Display of Affection
by PepperjackCandy
Summary: Season 4, AU, post-"Caroline and the Bad Date." Het.


Title: Caroline and the Public Display of Affection  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Archive: sincereamore.com, my writing at fanfiction.net  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: Caroline/Richard  
Spoilers for: Caroline and the Singer, I guess.  
  
Disclaimer: Caroline in the City belongs to Barron/Pennette, CBS, NBC and Three Sisters Entertainment. All of whom are most emphatically not me.  
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.   
  
A/N: This is, unfortunately, firmly in AU territory as of Caroline and the 2000th Strip. It begins about an hour or so after Caroline and the Bad Date ended. Halloween 1998 was a Saturday.   
  
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Richard came out of the bathroom, wearing Caroline's most-unisex robe -- it might have been pink, but at least it was terrycloth -- toweling off his hair. He'd been dusty after they'd removed him from the vent, so Caroline had loaned him a towel and robe so he could take a shower.  
  
Caroline was bustling around the kitchen, making coffee. He laid the towel around his neck as he walked into the kitchenette and kissed her.   
  
"Get a room!" came a cry from the front door. It was Annie, grinning.  
  
"Get a . . ." Richard began.  
  
Caroline interrupted him. "Richard . . ."  
  
"I just came by to drop this off." Annie handed an unlabeled CD to Caroline. "Just consider it a first-date present."  
  
"Thank you." A bemused Caroline said as Annie picked up a mug and helped herself to the coffee.  
  
Annie took a big slurp of the coffee. "Don't mention it." She took the mug with her as she opened the door. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She bade them farewell with a smile and a wink.  
  
Richard, who had left his glasses in the bathroom, looked at Caroline. "What is it?"  
  
"I don't know." She shrugged. "It's not labeled."  
  
She walked to her stereo on the breakfast bar and put the CD in, pressing the 'play' button.  
  
The sound of a lone piano came from the speakers, soon followed by a voice. Richard's heart was seized by a cold hand of panic as he recognized the song.  
  
The singer, Donna Spadaro, Richard now realized, crescendoed, "I have feelings, strong feelings . . ."  
  
Caroline's eyes widened. "Oh, my God, Richard. We were at Remo's, and Del . . ."  
  
"Yes, I know. You left your shoes in Del's car." Richard said bitterly.  
  
Caroline shook her head as if to clear it. "What?" She asked, confused.  
  
"I'm sorry. You were saying?"  
  
"I was saying that this song. It's that letter that you wrote to me. Before I didn't marry Del."  
  
Richard nodded.   
  
"I knew that Donna had turned it into a song. You told me that much. And I even remember hearing it before. Vaguely. But I had no idea it was so beautiful."  
  
The joy and love in Caroline's eyes made Richard want to melt, but he still had that cold, hard, lump of bitterness lodged in his throat, which prevented him from giving Caroline what he so desperately wanted to give her. Instead, he said, "Yes. Well, your feelings have never been just . . . displayed out there for other people, have they?"  
  
Caroline wanted to argue with him, but ultimately her face fell. "You're right." She admitted.  
  
Richard's heart softened to see her disappointment. He put a hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. "Hey. I'm sorry about that. It's just . . . a sore spot."  
  
The corners of Caroline's mouth turned up slightly. "That's all right. I'd probably feel the same way in your position."   
"It's getting late."  
  
Caroline nodded. "Yeah."   
  
"I'll go get dressed, and then I'd better be going." He kissed her again. "You know that if I'm going to have my innermost feelings displayed for anyone, I'd never be able to choose someone better than you."  
  
The slight tilt to her lips became a full-on smile. "Thank you, Richard."  
  
"No. Thank you." Richard kissed Caroline again, and almost caved in to his desire to just stay there. But he had painting still to do that night - he needed some respite from the succession of emotions he'd experienced that night.  
  
After Richard had dressed in clothes still dusty from the vent and left, Annie returned. "So? How'd it go?"  
  
Caroline handed the CD back to her. "Very smooth, Annie."  
  
"What?" Annie asked, clearly confused.  
  
"Trying to get to Richard with that song."  
  
"Trying to get to him? I didn't do anything to get to him. I thought it'd be nice to actually, you know, get that all out in the open. And it *is* a beautiful song."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Annie nodded. "Trust me, when I want to 'get to' Richard, I do it more directly than this."  
  
Annie sat down. "So where did things go wrong?"  
  
"He was just upset because that song just displayed his feelings for . . . anyone to hear. And he has a right to be. I've never had anything like that happen to me."  
  
Suddenly, Caroline's aspect brightened. "And I think I know how to make it right."  
  
After Annie left, Caroline got to work. She only had a few hours to get it ready before the absolute deadline to get it into Monday's paper.  
  
Monday morning, Richard tripped over a newspaper as he opened his door to leave for work. Swearing, he nudged it out of his way with his foot. "Whoever you belong to will just have to come looking for you." He said to it.  
  
Then he noticed a note attached to it. _Now we're even._, then the drawing of a small heart, and the word, _Caroline._  
  
Richard, intrigued, picked up the paper. On a hunch, he flipped to the comics page. He was right. He'd never seen today's Caroline strip before.  
  
In it, Caroline and Annie were talking.  
  
Panel 1:  
  
CAROLINE: Hey, Annie, you know Richard?  
  
Panel 2:  
  
ANNIE: The guy who colors your Sunday strips. Yeah. Why?  
  
Panel 3:  
  
CAROLINE: He's really sweet, you know? And cute. And I've been carrying a torch for him for almost two years now. In fact, I love him!  
  
Panel 4:  
  
ANNIE, x's over her eyes, falls to the ground in a faint with an audible THUMP.   
CAROLINE smiles triumphantly.  
  
Richard closed the paper and smiled, feeling better than he'd felt in a long time. He might just, someday, have to go to a music store and give Donna's album a listen.  
  
Maybe. 


End file.
